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Southeast Asia forced-labour scams

Southeast Asia forced-labour scams
Overseas job scams are rising sharply with many being lured to Southeast Asia and forced into illegal work. Cases involving Hongkongers were first revealed in 2022.
A Thai soldier stands guard in a compound that the Thai military says was used for scam operations, in the town of O’Smach, along Cambodia’s northern border with Thailand, on April 7. Photo: Reuters
Cambodia

Letters | Cambodia should investigate those who enabled scam networks

Readers discuss how Cambodia can regain international credibility, and vigilance against fraudulent loans and transactions.

Asean

Asian scam gangs snare educated English speakers with fake job ads: UN agency

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Myanmar

Myanmar approves death sentence in crackdown on scam centres

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Cambodia

Cambodia’s tourism slump leaves Angkor Wat eerily quiet

Tourist arrivals have collapsed by nearly 50 per cent this year, forcing local operators to rethink Cambodia’s entire pitch.

Restoration work is seen on a balustrade at the Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap province, Cambodia, on July 20. Photo: ANA/Xinhua
Crime

China charges alleged scam kingpin Chen Zhi with intentional injury: report

Extradited from Cambodia six months ago, Chen faces fresh count that could lead to the death penalty.

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Cambodia

Hun Manet vows to make Cambodia ‘not worth staying’ for scammers

Cambodia has come under significant international pressure over scam compounds, including from both the US and China.

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Cambodia

Asia-Pacific cyberscam victims lost up to US$114 billion last year: UN

The losses from online scams, mostly investment fraud, are at least triple that from 2023, reflecting a ‘dramatic scaling’, the report says.

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A Thai soldier walks near small booths lined with acoustic foam used to make scam calls inside a compound in Cambodia’s O’Smach border town on February 2. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong beautician pleads guilty to luring 2 women into Myanmar scam factory

Victims offered free flights, accommodation and reward for transporting 48 million baht before being ‘sold’ to compound.

Thailand

Thailand auctions US$18 million superyacht linked to supersized fraud

Nearly US$700 million in assets have been seized in Thailand so far, an example of the amount of dirty money sloshing through the economy.

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Crime

Top operative of China-born tycoon Chen Zhi extradited from Cambodia

Mainland police say Liu Ren founded group that operated multiple online gambling platforms and aggressively solicited Chinese citizens.

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Liu Ren (centre) is a central figure of a criminal group masterminded by Chinese businessman Chen Zhi. Photo: CCTV
Crime

AI driving ‘more elaborate and deceptive’ cyberfraud in Asia: Interpol

Of the 18 Interpol members that responded to the Asian survey, more than half reported that cybercrime made up 30 per cent of all offences.

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Chinese nationals suspected of running cyberscam centres are escorted to a prison after their arrest in Colombo on May 9. Photo: AFP
Cambodia

Cambodia’s ‘performative’ crackdowns fail to stop scam centres: Amnesty

The rights group said it identified 86 scam compounds operating across Cambodia as of April, up from 53 a year earlier.

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Singapore

Suspected Filipino scammer reveals how Cambodian ring conned Singaporeans

De Villar Rizalyn Panganiban, accused of taking part in a three-level impersonation scam, gives insights into the gang’s fraud tactics.

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Crime

Editorial | Hong Kong should spare no effort in fight against financial crime

The recent crackdown by law enforcement agencies from 10 jurisdictions on international scams shows the benefit of regional cooperation.

Officers from the Frontier+ initiative at a press briefing in the Maldives. Photo: Handout
Mainland China

Myanmar’s Wei family go on trial in latest phase of China’s scam farm crackdown

The clan, one of Kokang’s ‘four families’, is accused of a range of crimes including murder, fraud and extortion.

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Wei Huairen pictured at the time of his arrest in January 2024. Photo: Xinhua
Chen Zhi

Cambodia raids sites linked to Chen Zhi, Chinese tycoon accused of scam empire

82 Chinese nationals among 104 people detained in Phnom Penh raids as governments around the world crack down on Chen’s scam business.

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Sri Lanka

The great scam migration: fraudsters fleeing Cambodia find a new hub

Criminal gangs are setting up in rented spaces ranging from luxury villas to office complexes, thanks to cheap visas and fast internet.

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Thailand

‘Phantom birth’ scam spooks Thailand as hundreds of babies get fake citizenship

Police believe that some Chinese cyber scammers are using these false registrations to launder money through firms they can fully control.

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A baby is carried in a back sling adorned with the Chinese character meaning “fortune” in Ban Arunothai, Thailand. Photo: Thomas Bird
Trending in China

Ex-China soldier flees Myanmar scam centre, scales wall, masks scent with cow dung

Former infantryman confounds compound bosses with military skills, flees over mountains finally making safety of Chinese embassy.

Thailand

Thailand to extradite Indonesian man in US$10 million scam targeting Americans

The suspect allegedly hired models to lure targets into phoney investment schemes over video calls, dating apps and social media.

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Cambodia

US slaps sanctions on Cambodian senator suspected of controlling scam centres

The sanction freezes all US assets linked to Senator Kok An and his named associates, and bars any American national from dealing with them.

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Equipment used at a scam centre in Phnom Penh in March. This year Cambodia has conducted the largest crackdown on scam bases since the crisis emerged during the pandemic. Photo: AP
Cambodia

Video | Inside a scam centre on the Cambodia-Thailand border

The town-sized O’Smach Resort complex, which once housed 29 scam companies, occupies roughly 80 hectares (197 acres).

The town-sized O’Smach Resort complex, which once housed 29 scam companies, occupies roughly 80 hectares (197 acres),
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Thailand

Thailand seizes US$260 million from scammers in ‘decisive’ crackdown

The latest seizure includes cash, cars and bank deposits, bringing the total value of assets confiscated to more US$620 million.

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Cambodia

Why Cambodia’s new law may do little to combat its scam centres

Analysts warn the lack of provisions addressing the role officials and networks play in enabling scams may limit the law’s effectiveness.

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Cambodia

Opinion | To beat Cambodia’s scam gangs, US must work with China – not blame it

Taking down the deeply rooted, well-connected syndicates would require both Washington’s economic leverage and Beijing’s operational efforts.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Scams and swindles

Cambodia’s high-stakes war on online scam compounds

Cambodia has vowed to stamp out the scam compounds on its soil by month’s end – but perpetrators remain drawn to the potential for huge profits.

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Illustration: Davies Christian
Hong Kong police

‘Like a horror movie’: Hongkonger rescued after Myanmar forced labour ordeal

Security Bureau liaised with Chinese embassies in Myanmar and Thailand, economic and trade office in Bangkok and Thai authorities to rescue man.

Asean

Southeast Asia’s scam compound survivors suffer in stigma and silence

Many survivors return home to inhabit a murky space between victim and offender, with few support services to help them reintegrate.

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